Lavender Fields Forever

By Emily Standlee | Photos supplied

The Midwest is often regarded as the perfect place for growing commodity crops, but the experiential farms currently blooming in popularity throughout the region make a whole lot of scents.

Lavender season stretches from late May into June, and we ’ re lucky to have access to a number of lavender farms right here in Missouri. Popular destinations for St. Louis residents include Long Row Lavender in Wright City, which is only a 50-minute drive from Clayton And if you ’ re due for a visit to Columbia, Battlefield Lavender is a 30-minute drive north near Centralia

Perhaps the closest lavender farm for St. Louisans is Tenderloin Farms Lavender, which sits just in Edwardsville, Illinois, a 35-minute drive from downtown St. Louis. If you ’ re already planning a day trip over the river, consider stopping by to pick your own lavender or purchase a plant that’s been propagated in the greenhouse.

Kimberly Stahlhut Hansen – along with her sister Kristin Stahlhut Straub – co-owns and -operates the farm, which has been in their family for generations. It was founded by the sisters’ great-grandfather John Henry Stahlhut in 1917 and later managed by their parents and grandparents.

Here, Hansen shares an inside look at Tenderloin Farms.

How did you get started?

“Our family has been farming in the Edwardsville area since 1853, growing potatoes, selling eggs, raising hay and milking cows. During our lifetime, we were a hog and crop operation Thus, the name Tenderloin Farms came to be, which we maintain to honor our family ’ s history We only grow corn and soybeans now and added lavender to the operation in 2016. We currently have 1,000 bushes. Each generation seems to change the farm in some way, and the lavender is our addition ”

Is it difficult to grow lavender? Where does it all go?

“The farm is more than just lavender – we ’ ve added several wildf lower areas. We renovated a turn-of-the-century barn and added a greenhouse that houses the baby lavender plants we propagate and sell when the farm reopens for business each June. We use and sell all the lavender we grow and harvest, and we make handmade products with it and sell many bundles. We also personally cook with it and share the recipes.

There are over 400 varieties of lavender, and we ’ re growing about 15 of them on the farm – we continually experiment with growing different varieties. Lavender is a Mediterranean plant; it can be interesting to grow, plus we ’ ve had to deal with the weather occurring in our area lately For example, cold nights deep into April, cool temperatures, little rain and a lot of cloudy days. Like our parents and grandparents before us [would say]: Welcome to working directly with Mother Nature.”

What are you most excited about for the new season?

“ What most excites us is our continued effort working with people to grow lavender in this area, as well as our increased effort in cooking more with the lavender and sharing our experiences.”

You can find Tenderloin Farms Lavender on Instagram and Facebook at @tenderloinfarms. To reserve a date and time to pick your own lavender or purchase products online, visit tfilavender.com

6368 St. James Drive, Edwardsville, 618-593-8194, tenderloinfarms.com